Clamp



Aug. 11, 1925. 1 1,549 567 v 'L.. A. BALDWIN CLAMP Filed April 11. 1924 W/TNESSES Patented Aug. 11, 1925.

JFPUTTlCD STATES; PATENT OFF LLOYD ALFRED BALDWIN, 0F BOONTON, NEW JERSEY.

CLAMP.

ApplcationiledfApril 11, 1924. Serial No. 705,951.

To all/whom tima/y concern.'

Beit known that I, LLOYD A. BALDWIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boonton, in the county of Morrisl and State of New Jersey, have invented a new an improved clamprot' simple and practical' construction wherein a movable jaw y is adjusted; relative to the fixed jaw, by means of, a screw member, m such manner that when the movable jaw engages the worlr held between said jaws no twisting or torsional action will be applied tothe work by said movable jaw.

Another object isto provide a simple and eiiective means for securely, clamping the worlr between the jawsy of the device and for maintaining the jaws in their clamping position.

The above and other objectswill appear` more clearly from the following, detailedv description, when` taken in connection with.

the. accompanyingl drawing, which illusf trates a preferred embodiment of the in ventive idea.

Inthe drawing-.-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the clamp, partly broken away and shown 1.11 sect1on; Figure2V is a fragmentary4 longitudinal sectional View showing the mechanism for operating t-he screw member, of the .clamp-` Figure 3.isa` section on the line,` 3--3 of Figure 2; and` Figure 4v is a sectional view on the line %4 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing the numeral 5 indicates the body portion of the clamp which terminates in laterally extending ends 6 and 7, the former being provided with a fixed jaw 8. The end 7 is reduced, as indicated at 9, and formed therein with a transverse opening 10. Mounted for rotation in the opening 10 is a worm nut or bushing 11, the ends of which project beyond the ends of said opening andV one end of the bushing having an enlarged head 12, preferably milled, and disposed in the recess 9. The bushing 11 is internally screw threaded to receive the threads of a screw member 13 having a longitudinally extending slot or keyway 14 therein. The bushingll is held` against longitudinal movement intheopening 10 by` means of a retaining plate 15 secured tothe endf and provided with an opening 16 therein through which the screw, member 13. extends, Disposedin the opening.16 isa keyy 17 which engages `in theY slotl 14 of the screw member to prevent rotation of the latter when the bushing ,11; is rotated by means or,l the headt12.` This rotation of the bushing 11 will, however, impart a y longitudinal movement tothe screw. member 13 to adjust the same toward and away from the fixedv jaw 8 of the device.

The end of the screwy member 13 adjacent. the iixed jaw Sis provided withV a ball 18v upon which is mounted forroclring movement the movable jaw v19. Thismoyable jaw slot 21 formed, in the ball 18and-through thisconnection with` the screw member the carries a pin 2O` engage,alble` in an arcuate.L 75

jaw 19 is enabledito,moveaboill the balljas Y a pivotl in two planes at right angles to each other. This `rocking .movement is` provided for the purpose of, permitting the clamping.,

:tace of thejaw to securely4 engage tlnssurn face of a piece of work which might, be diagonally disposed relative` to the lplane ,j ofA the `clamping faceoithejawS. The clamp-fy ing faces of thejaws `8 and 19 are milled or corrugated to better enable the jaws to grip the work. j

An auxiliary mechanism adjusting4 the screw member 13 longitudi-y is provided for nallyv when the head 12/is inaccessible,` or

whenv it is desired tofolce the, jaw. 19into very tight engagement witha piece of work after. said jaw has beenmovedj intozcontact with said work by rotation of the head 12.

This mechanism is carried by the endoi'the bushing 11 opposite the hea-d 12 and consists of a ratchet 21 keyed to the bushing at 22 and having arranged on opposite sides thereof the opposed plates 23 of an operating handle 24. This operating handle 24 may be rotated in either direction to impart rotation to the bushing 11 for the p-urpose of adjusting the screw member 13, or the handle 24 may be disconnected from its operative relation to the ratchet 21 so that when the bushingll is being operated by rotating the head 12 the handle 24 will remain relatively stationary. To this end the handle 24 is formed with a recess 25 therein .in which is slidably mounted the spring-pressed pawl 26 having a head 27 at its outer end and having its inner end 28 beveled, as indicated, and adapted for engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 21. Referring to Figure 3 with the pawl 26 in the position shown, it will be obvious that the movement of the handle 24 in a countercloclrwise'direction will cause a rotation of' the ratchet 21 and, consequently, of the bushing 11, and a movement of' Said handle in a reverse direction will permit the pawl to ride freely over the teeth of said ratchet so that no movement will be imparted to the latter. The pawl 26 is capable of being adjusted to a reverse position in order to permit of the ratchet being rotated in a clockwise direction, if desired, and to this end the pawl 26 carries a latching pin 29 which, when the pawl is in operative relation to the ratchet, engages in a transverse groove 30 formed in the outer extremity of the handle 2%. By withdrawing the pawl 26 outwardly and then rotating the same to a position diametrically opposed to that shown in Figure 3 and then permitting said pawl to restore to its normal position,

it will be obvious that the beveled end 28 of said pawl may be reversed to accomplish the reverse rotation of the ratchet. ln order to permit of the bushing 11 being rotated without movement of the handle 24, that is, when said bushing is being rotated by actuating the head 12, the pawl 2G may be withdrawn and given a quarter turn in either direction to engage the latching pin 29 with either of the recesses 31 (Figure 2) formed in the outer extremity of the handle 24. In this position the extremity 28 will be retained out of engagement with the ratchet and, consequently, a rotation of the bushing 12 will not aifect the handle 24.

that is claimed is:

1. A clamp including a body having a fixed jaw at one end, a screw member mounted in the opposite end of said body, a movable jaw carried by said screw mem: ber cooperating with said fixed jaw, means preventing rotation of said screw member,

. a bushing rotatably mounted in said opposite end of the body and operable to move said screw member toward and away from said fixed jaw, a ratchet carried by said bushing, a sliding and rotatable pawl for engaging the ratchet, means for holding the pawl in the position to which it is turned, and means for locking the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet.

2. A clamp including a body having a iixed aw at one end, a screw member mounted in the opposite end of said body, a movable jaw carried by said screw member cooperating with said fixed jaw, means preventing rotation of said screw member, a bushing rotatably mounted in said opposite end of the body and operable to move said screw member toward and away from said fixed jaw, a ratchet carried by said bushing and rotatable therewith, an operating handle for said ratchet, a reversible pawl slidably and rotatably mounted in said handle and engageable with said ratchet to impart rotation thereto in either direction when said handle is rotated and means for locking the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet.

3. A clamp including a body having a fixed jaw at one end, a screw member mounted in the opposite end of said body, a movable j aw carried by said screw member cooperating with said fixed jaw, means preventing rotation of said screw member, a bushing rotatably mounted in said opposite end of the body and provided with a head to move said screw member toward and away from said fixed jaw, a ratchet carried by said bushing and rotatable therewith, an operating handle for said ratchet, a reversible pawl slidably and rotatably mounted in said handle and engageable with said ratchet to impart rotation thereto in either direction when said handle is rotated, and means carried by said pawl and engageable with said handle when the pawl is moved longitudinally and rotated to prevent engagement of said pawl with said ratchet whereby said bushing and ratchet may be rotated independently of said handle.

LLOYD ALFRED BALDWIN. 

